Video: David Moyes Man City pre-match presser

David Moyes gave his virtual pre-match press conference on Friday ahead of the Hammers trip to Manchester to face City on Saturday and this is what he had to say:

Any injuries or sickness to update us on?

No for the moment we seem okay, we still have Arthur [Masuaku] coming back, [Andriy] Yarmnlenko still has a medial knee ligament injury and Ryan Fredericks picked up a little bit of a groin strain which is not serious, but he is touch and go so we will see how he is today after training.

Jesse Lingard’s impact. What is he like to coach and what influence does he have in the dressing room?

We are really pleased to have him because he has given us another dimension, especially in our attacking play. He has given us better competition in those areas. He has given us a bit of quality which I always thought we were going to need in the second half of the season to help us. And it is not that easy to get players in January who can make a difference and Jesse has come in and had an impact with his goals and performances.

How much is the game against Manchester City a chance for you to prove you can challenge the teams above you and that being in the top-four is something you can maintain?

You are talking about challenging Manchester City, arguably the top team in the world, maybe number two or three in the world somewhere in that position so that is a big ask for any team.

It is a big ask for West Ham but we have tried to take on the challenges that have been put in front of us this year, on some occasions we have done well on others not so good, but we will try and take Man City on in some way and try and cause them difficulties.

But you need to be football stupid not to understand the quality of what Man City have got and how they are playing at this present time?

How much do you enjoy personally going up against Pep Guardiola?

He certainly makes you think and he gives you problems to try and solve because of the quality of his players and his team.

I heard him say the other day they have the money to spend to buy the top players and try to get the top players, which is always a big help so that gives you a big advantage. But undoubtedly he is a manager who has his own style, he improves players and has exciting good football teams which is a great credit to him.

Has Michail Antonio spoken to you about switching to play for Jamaica and if so would you support that?

I only heard about it yesterday afternoon, I have not had a direct conversation with Mick about it yet. I am still holding out that Mick will play for England and may have the chance to be selected and if he scores lots of goals that might be an opportunity.

But if he chose to go for Jamaica I would certainly not say no to that, that would be his decision, but I have not really had an opportunity to have a conversation with him.

What impact could fans coming back for the final game of the season have?

It is good news to get fans back in the stadiums, that would be fantastic. I am a little bit uneasy about them coming back for the last game of the season because it would be an advantage for one team and not the other to have them.

If the government and the Premier League could see fit to do it one week earlier, which I am sure won’t be the case, but it would mean all teams would have a home and away game at the end of the season where everybody got a crowd back.

We use the word integrity many many times in different periods of this pandemic and I would be really worried about one club getting an advantage in the final game of the season, so I think it is something that needs to be considered. But getting supporters back is great and we are looking forward to it.

The second half of the Spurs game saw your team having to dig deep to protect the result. Do you think that it gave the team a level of insight as to what is to come in these following rounds and how they are going to have to fight to come out unscathed?

The rounds of games we have got coming up are against some of the best teams in the league at the moment and we have some tough games coming up. It is a bit like at the start of the season with the games we have at the moment.

We had to do it then and we have to do it now, there is no way we are always going to be the best team and there is no way there are not going to be periods where we have to suffer a bit when we don’t have the ball.

So when we have not got it we have to make sure we are good without it and I thought we did a really good job against Tottenham and it was an important three points and keeps us moving on.

That was your first win over Jose Mourinho, did that triumph have any extra meaning to you or give you a little boost?

No, not any more than just seeing West Ham get closer to the top of the league and just trying to hang in there.

The big thing about it was it was a derby game and getting a result for the supporters, it was a good result for us that was the big thing.

What I did see is we need to improve our performances, there are things in our game we need to work on, there are things we need to work harder on and get better at. There are lots of bits we can improve on and that is what gives me hope for the future that there are things we can work on and we can continue to improve.

What insight do you have on facing this calibre of opposition?

Everybody knows the quality of Manchester City, we see it week in and week out at the moment. Pep [Guardiola] has a full squad, he can pick whoever he likes, he can chop and change.

Obviously, they have a really full schedule because of the amount of games they have got, So we have to make the most of that. It is slightly different for us as we don’t have European games, I hope we do in the future, but we don’t at the moment but we have to try and make the most of us having a chance to prepare for the game and be as good as we can and go there in a positive mind frame.

We have tried to play well against all the teams, we have not always got the results but we are trying to up our game and do the best we can.

Would a clean sheet make it a successful trip?

If you want me to shake hands on a clean sheet just now I would be happy to do that now and maybe that might mean we nick a goal as well.

I think any team that goes to Manchester City the word clean sheet is the first thing you want to do because of their attacking ability and the players they have got their interchange of positions and the amount of time they get in and around your box makes it a very difficult thing to do. So if we could get a clean sheet I would be more than thrilled.

How are you going to manage West Ham fan’s expectations of getting into the Champions League?

We are going to keep trying, taking it a game at a time. Small goals different from what we set ourselves at the start of the season.

We have got ourselves in a position where we are not going to get relegated this season and we are not going to be talked about as a relegation side, we are now being talked about as a European side in some way, which is a remarkable turnaround from where we have been, so I am enjoying that.

We want to try and hang in there, West Ham supporters will have big expectations but their expectations over recent years have been pretty low so let’s be fair this is now something we can enjoy. Praising the players for their efforts, praising the club for the way they have gone about their business and what they have done so at this moment in time it is a good period for West Ham and West Ham supporters.

Some people may see this as a game between the two candidates for manager of the season?

There is only one candidate and that is Pep [Guardiola] because he is top of the league. I think Man City look as if they have the best chance this year of winning the Champions League, of course, you have to talk about Bayern Munich and PSG as well and one or two others clubs but I think this is their best chance of winning the Champions League.

They have shown they are going to win the league so Pep is having an outstanding season, he is in a cup final already as well [the League Cup] he has the chance to go for another one [the FA Cup] he is doing an unbelievable job, last year City didn’t do as well as expected so he has done a brilliant job.

Is it more important we have full stadiums for August rather than 10,000 for the final game of the season?

Yes, if you can guarantee that. If you could guarantee that I think we would all say ‘sure no problem get rid of the 10,000 and wait for next season when we could get everybody back.’

But I don’t know if there are any guarantees on that as far as we know, but everybody is hoping we have full stadiums next year. We are ready for it and we are actually watching quite a lot of sports from other countries at the moment where there are fans.

We watched a bit of the cricket and we saw supporters there in the stadiums in India for example and I know they trialled it in Australia with some groups coming back in.

I am hoping we can get to bigger numbers than 10,000, but I think we just have to follow government guidelines.

But I think for the integrity of the game we just need to make sure there is a situation where people can’t say ‘this is an unfair advantage to one team or the other’ if we are only talking about one game of the season.

After Neil Lennon’s sacking at Celtic you were linked with the job, what is happening with your new contract at West ham are you staying next season?

I have no intentions of going anywhere. I have already spoken with David Sullivan and we are quietly ticking things along the truth is I don’t want anything to get in the way of what we are doing just now.

So I am not going to come out and say ‘I am signing a big contract’ or doing anything else just now that in any way might change things around. I just really want to go about the job and try to be professional.

Nowadays having a contract is important but it is not that important in football because it chops and changes so quickly. I am really happy here, I enjoy the people I work with, I think there has been a great improvement on and off the field here at West Ham and I am hoping to continue to make them better, and hopefully, we can start to sustain our level of league position of where we are at the moment.

I can’t guarantee it and I am not going to promise it, but let’s hope we can.

 

About Sean Whetstone

I am Season Ticket Holder in West stand lower at the London Stadium and before that, I used to stand in the Sir Trevor Brooking Lower Row R seat 159 in the Boleyn Ground and in the Eighties I stood on the terraces of the old South Bank. I am a presenter on the West Ham Podcast called MooreThanJustaPodcast.co.uk. A Blogger on WestHamTillIdie.com a member of the West Ham Supporters Advisory Board (SAB), Founder of a Youtube channel called Mr West Ham Football at http://www.youtube.com/MrWestHamFootball, I am also the associate editor here at Claret and Hugh. Life Long singer of bubbles! Come on you Irons! Follow me at @Westhamfootball on twitter